Our world is a beautiful place. Just think about how the sun breaks through a cloud to bathe the grass and trees and rocks and earth in a warm glow. Think of the colours that dance and bounce around on everything we see. Think of the mellifluous birdsong that greets each new day. Take a piece of grass and look at its shape. What made it grow that way? Why is it that exact shade of green? Feel it. Touch it. Smell it. Is there another blade of grass anywhere on the face of the earth that is completely and utterly identical?

People are beautiful too. Think of how a little baby communicates with her mother simply through looks, giggles and gargles. Think of how a child absorbs a wealth of knowledge just by experiencing the world around him. How uplifting it is to receive a smile from a stranger passing by on a crowded city street. What possibilities are hiding waiting to be unlocked when you meet a new acquaintance. Think of the nuances of our personalities that make us individual. No two people are ever completely identical. Not looks. Not personality. Not beliefs. Not tastes. Not experiences. Not anything.

To me, this is beauty.

So why do some misguided blockheads blunder through life seeing things as if they can only exist in two states? 0, 1. On, Off. Right, Wrong. Good, Bad. Us, Them. Black, White. They don’t seem to be able to see and celebrate even the shades of grey, never mind other exquisite hues of puce, cerulean, burnt umber, vermilion. How sad for them. Do they not see? Are they so blinded by their own prejudice?

If you have a disagreement with a person, they are not to be completely condemned for all time. It does not mean that person is unworthy of conversation. You are not speaking to the Antichrist or one of Satans minions – don’t recoil. A simple difference of opinion may be just that. It is not a cue to shut down all communication and forsake civility and decency.

If a person has a different sense of humour, morality, spirituality, work ethic or differs from you in anyway does not mean they are fatally flawed. They also have something to offer the world.

I am not perfect.

Neither are you.

Celebrate the beautiful differences. Revel in the uncertainty of a conversation. Learn to love the variations in nature and in people.